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Monet St. Croix is a student at the Xavier Institute. She is the oldest surviving child of the Monaco St. Croix family (and the favorite). She has two sisters. Her brother and mother are dead, but her mother was Algerian royalty, making Monet royalty as well. She's been on the cover of magazines like Vogue and Esquire. She's insanely rich. A genius who has been published in articles and journals. Oh... and an outspoken mutant gifted with both extreme physical and psionic abilities ... who does not shy away from what she is. M''' is one of the founding members of Generation X, and the oldest in the group. And if you ask her, the best in the group as well - she's infuriatingly right about that too. Background Monet lies down on the couch. "I'm just going to lie down. I know it's cliche, but I figure if I'm going to let someone psychoanalyze a brain as magnificent as mine, we might as well do it in a classic way. I think we should start with my childhood, then some dream therapy and perhaps afterwards a Rorschach Test." Doc Samson starts to say, "Okay, but-" Monet puts her hand up as if to shush him. "Tut. Anyway, my name is Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix. I like to think that my birth was a godsend to not only my family, but the world in general. My father, as you likely know, is Cartier St. Croix, of the Monaco St. Croix family.... you're undoubtedly aware of some of his many corporations, or perhaps that he's Ambassador to the United States? And my mother was Algerian royalty. She was a mutant like I am. Well... not like me exactly, who could be like moi. Tres impossible. But she was a mutant. I was the second born of four - but very obviously the favorite. Not that I have any ill will to my little sisters, Claudette and Nicole - but we all knew that I was destined for greatness. I do love them dearly. My brother, Marius? Not so much. He was always jealous of me. Then again, if I was someone else, I'd be jealous of me as well. After all, look at me." Doc Samson says, "You're very-" "Shh... anyway look. Beauty, poise, confidence, sensuality, impeccable breeding, noble heritage, I'm a genius with a 192 IQ, and my mutant powers are so varied, both physically and psionically... Strength, speed, invulnerability, agility, flight, telepathy, telekinesis, illusions, enhanced senses ... too many others to mention. Who WOULDN'T be jealous of being around me? It must truly be hell for you people. But don't think of me as some unattainable goal. I am, but don't think of it like that. Think of it as... an aspiration. Just trying to be better, to get a little closer to being like me? That alone makes you more worthwhile. I guess you could say one of my many powers is the power to inspire others to want to be more perfect themselves." "Anyway, my brother.... I think he may have killed my mother. Papa kicked him out and banished him. He returned and wanted me to help him in conquering another dimension. Obviously I told him no, and with oh so much scorn and derision." Monet pauses. "It was ... regrettable. He used powerful magics to trap me in the form of .... this.... thing" She shakes her head. "Maybe I'll talk about that later. Perhaps in dream therapy." Doc Samson leans forward, concerned. "Are you okay, Ms. St. Croix?" Monet smiles a little, taking a tissue. "I'm fine. Well.... obviously I need to collect my thoughts about this, but I will be fine. In addition to everything else, I am a survivor." A long pause. "My sisters.... when Marius... took me, they thought I was dead. And they despaired, obviously. They managed to trap him in a dimensional portal. I... went with him. He said he could undo what he had done to me, and I was not myself. My sisters... they knew my father would not be able to live without me, being his favorite... and they merged into one person... trying to approximate me as best they could. They couldnt truly duplicate all my powers, or the levels of them, but even a halfway adequate duplication of me is far more than most mutants could ever hope to achieve, and the ruse worked." She sighs. "When Generation X formed, I was freed from my brother's control, but not from the prison of the Penance body which he had placed me in. Gateway helped me - and introduced me to the Xavier's Institute as 'Penance.' My sisters realized who I was, and told the teachers that I was a prisoner of their brother. They could not tell the rest of the truth - in truth I'm glad they didn't. They knew I could not abide being seen as something to be pitied. Not me." "During my stay at the Academy, I ... did not really interact with anyone. Sometimes with Jubilee, who I'm sure looked at me as some pitiable thing to be fed apples, like a horse." Monet rolls her eyes. "It was so humiliating, but... I did decide to start interacting with others more. My sisters finally admitted that they were not me - just a pale imitation of me.... and they let Generation X know that the real Monet St. Croix, moi, was trapped in the Penance form. They... they found that, as the spell trapping me in the Penance body was meant to trap Monet St. Croix, they could ... take my place. Now... I did not want them to. If I had been able to speak, I would have told them no. But they loved me too much, and they felt guilt at impersonating me. They should have known that they had nothing to be guilty about. More wonderful sisters, I could not hope to have. Another gift for me." Monet sighs again. "They swapped places with me, and were stuck in the Penance body, while I was free at last. Of course, my powers were notably increased from what Claudette and Nicole could simulate. Ms. Frost discovered that when I was able to push her out of my mind ... admittedly violentely. I'm afraid I've never entirely trusted her - being an ex-villain and all." "But as I was saying, my sisters would later be freed from the Penance form as well in an explosion. Somehow the Penance body continued to live with some sort of echo of our personalities.. Monet looks at Doc Samson. "I've been having all sorts of terrible dreams. I'm not sure - they could be premonitions - I could have that power, or gain it. Or maybe it's because of what I went through with Marius. But I've been having dreams that feel like it happened in another universe. That one of my friends, Synch, sacrified his life. It might be because I've started opening up to him about how I sometimes feel... well... vulnerable" She smiles at Samson. "I know. How unusual, somoene like me feeling vulnerable. But I do. I had no choice as Penance, and perhaps I overcompensate by flouting my obvious superiority in the face of others. The thing is... I -am- superior to them. It's almost laughable how much better I am. But I feel the need to always SAY so... I shouldnt. I should just let them realize it quietly to themselves, but I just can't let myself be viewed as less than perfect, after all the years that I was forced to be such a pitiable thing." Monet smiles a little. "You know... this actually helped. Talking about this? Being able to just get it out to another person? It helped. And I trust the doctor-patient confidentiality will mean you would not divulge what I said. I'd hate to have to be cross with you. You'd hate it as well, obviously." Monet stands up and hands over a check for $1000. "For your time." Then she walks out of Doc Samson's office. Doc Samson blinks a bit, then looks over at the man who is sitting on the corner of the couch, looking at his lap. Monet peeks back in. "By the way, I took off that mental block on you being able to speak, whoever-you-are. My apologies for having to do that, but you were whining and I did need to express my thoughts. Important matters after all compared to whatever little things you were going to talk about." Then closes the door again. Doc Samson rubs the bridge of his nose. "So.... as I was saying..." He looks at the man, "Donald, what was the trouble you were having?" Donald says, in a murmuring, defeated way, "My problem is people act like I'm utterly insignificant and not even in the room." Personality '''Confident - An understatement. Confident to the point of aloofness. Monet's personality can often be ... irritating (to put it kindly) to others, due to her frank attitude about her powers, upbringing, intelligence, and appearance. What's even more irritating is she's so often correct about what she says. It's difficult to tell her off when she can usually back up everything she claims and says. Monet is fully aware about how powerful she is, physically and mentally. She knows that she's gorgeous, is aware how far above the norm she is in all areas, is aware of her strengths and lack of significant flaws (other than the lack of modesty, which she acknowledges), and is quite ready to make that apparent. She doesn't even consider this belief in her abilities to be egotistical, as she can back them up quite readily. In short - she does not consider herself arrogant - is it arrogant to state that which is true? She carries herself like royalty - which she is anyway - and rarely will back down from any confrontations, whether in a fight or in a social setting. Superiority Complex - Monet does not like to lose. Yes, most people don't like to lose, but Monet takes it to an almost pathological degree. She feels she has no excuse for being second best, given all the advantages she has in life, unlike many others. Her strategic mind can sometimes rationalize that if the chances are good that she could lose, she might even sidestep the problem entirely, unless directly challenged. Usually, challenging Monet directly is extremely dangerous though - she's more than capable of backing up her words with physical and psionic might - but her words alone can be quite debilitating as well, given her razor sharp wit and intelligence. Strategist - Monet has a startlingly strategic mind, handling a battle or life just like she might handle a chess game, making sure she's 8 steps ahead of her opponent. She's unused to having to 'wing it' - though she can and has improvised when necessary... after all, no battle plan survives first contact. She just does not like the unpredictability of it - the more 'winging it,' the greater a chance of failure, and failure is not an option for Monet. It's one of the reasons she tends to clash with less 'strategically minded' people - like Jubilee. She does respect others who have a similarly strategic mind. Cooperative - While one might think Monet's attitude would imply she's a poor team player, this is not the case, actually. As a strategist, she understands the need for cooperation with her teammates. No matter how good one player is, you need a team to win the game, after all (even if the MVP star player is going to carry the game for the others). Her pathological need to win means that she wants her team to win as well. If that means being a team player and taking advantage of her teammates' strengths, then she will be an exceptional team player. However, once the conflict/task/etc. is accomplished, expect that she will highlight her own actions. Loyalty - Deep down, below all the haughtiness, cockiness, and self-aggrandizing ... is more haughtiness, cockiness, and self-aggrandizing. BUT ... below that, Monet has shown the ability to have a kind, loving side. She's also very loyal to her teammates, and even more-so to people who she actually cares about. If one hurts someone she cares about, expect her to be merciless until they've been made to pay for their transgression against her friends (even if she's unwilling to admit that's why she's doing whatever she's doing). It's just hard sometimes to get to see it, though some (like Synch) have managed to breach her shell. Logs *2014-04-28 - Gym Jam - A clash of personalities almost comes to blows in the Xavier Institute's Gym *2014-04-29 - Breakfast Club - Monet makes breakfast and gets food for thought *2014-04-30 - A Family Af-Fail - Rina introduces her new boyfriend to Wolverine. Overprotective father doesnt even begin to describe it. Monet prevents too much bloodshed. *2014-05-01 - The Chat - Wolverine has a 'chat' with Monet. *2014-06-13 - Talk Time with Monet - When Black Bat demands to know what Monet is doing in Gotham, Monet makes it easier to communicate the information. Uh oh. *2014-07-08 - Cutscene: The Princess and the Plea - Black Bat comes to New Salem to beg for Monet's help with what the mutant had done to her mind. Category:Marvel Feature Category:Marvel Hero Category:North Salem Category:Marvel Taken